Ray Davies

Legend has it that on June 21st 1944 Ray Davies is born in Muswell Hill London to Fred and Annie Davies, the seventh child with six sisters previous
Ray gets his first guitar as a gift from his oldest sister Rene, receives first guitar lessons from brother in law, Mike Piker and goes on with Brother Dave, they perform their first shows
1961 William Grimshaw school mate, Pete Quaife, joins the brothers, to form their first band with John Start on drums from the same school. They are named the Ray Davies Quartet and play local dances covering the likes of the Ventures, The Shadows, Duane Eddy and Bo Diddley
1962 – Fellow school mate, Rod Stewart, briefly rehearses with the band on vocals but leaves to join the Moontrekkers
1963 – Band briefly change name to the Ramrods and again to the Boll Weevils. At the end of the year Ray leaves Hornsey Art School for Croydon Art School for its film and theatre program. The band lay some of their first recordings down including "I Believed In You" & "One Fine Day" and again change their name to The Ravens.
Jan 1964 – Ray finally handles the lead vocals and the band sign to Pye Records with a final name change name - The Kinks. Mick Avory joins the band shortly after an audition at the Camden Head. Shel Talmey is assigned to be he bands in house producer and they release their first single "Long Tall Sally" which charts at 42 in the UK.

1964 - "You Really Got Me" is released in August and tops the UK charts (7 in the US) and their debut album "The Kinks" in October which charts at 4. They see the year off with "All Day and All of the Night" charting at number 2 (7 again in the US) and firmly putting the band on the map. Their guitar sound will be copied the world round, spawning garage bands and eventually to laying the groundwork for punk and heavy metal. The band is number 2 in the NME Poll winners just behind the Stones
Dec 12th 1964 - Ray marries Rasa Didzpetris at St Joeseph’s Church, Packington, Bradford. Rasa will sing backing vocals on many of their sixties recordings.
1965 - Another number one hit in the UK with "Tired of Waiting For You" and "Well Respected Man", more top 10s follow with "Set Me Free" and "See My Friends", "Till the End of the Day" sees the band touring throughout the States and Europe. The year is bookend by the UK releases of "Kinda Kinks and "The Kinks Kontroversy" albums which both chart
1966 - Singles, "Dedicated Flower of Fashion" and "Sunny Afternoon" both top charts in the UK and the US top 40. The year ends with "Dead End Street" at number 6 and the bands first themed album "Face to Face" which has sees Rays writing change to social observations of British society.
1967 - "Waterloo Sunset" released and charts at number 2 and followed by the album "Something Else By The Kinks" and the single "Autumn Almanac" at number 5.
1968 - Release of "Live at Kelvin Hall" LP in the UK. Ray writes a series of songs for a weekly BBC special sung by others called "At the Eleventh Hour”. "Days" enters the charts at 10, originally intended for release on the next album is kept off until the re-release. Nov 22nd 1968 - The band’s cult classic "The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society" is released but strangely enough does not chart. In years to come it is often cited as one of the top twenty albums ever made and the first of many of their pioneering rock operas
October 1969 - The band are finally allowed a US work visa and tour the US throughout the rest of the year and into the next.
Lola released, hitting the top in the UK and 9 in the US, it will go on to be Ray’s trademark song. Ray had been forced to rerecord the lyric of Coke Cola to Cherry Cola to get played on the BBC, taking two return flights from the US to complete this. Dec 1970 - "Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround" album is released, reaching the US top 40
1972 - Konk recording studio is set up, virtually every Kinks album from the next year on out will be recorded here as well as over 30 top ten albums from the likes of Depeche Mode, The Kooks, Erasure and the Bay City Rollers. "The Kinks Kronikles" is released in the States turning on a whole new audience to many of the non US hits . "Supersonic Rocketship" is released in the UK and hits 16 ahead of the release of the "Everybody’s in Showbiz" double album which half is recorded at the famed Carnegie Hall in NYC
1979 – Ray temporarily relocates to the US and works on the material for "Low Budget" which will be the first album mostly recorded outside of Konk since 72. The album features four singles and charts as high as 11 in the US, their best since the early sixties.
1980 The band’s double live album, recorded in the states "One for the Road" album is released charting again at 14 but it goes on to be one of their biggest sellers. 1981 – The Kinks sell out Madison Square Garden. "Give the People What They Want" released in the States where it charts at 15. Band headline Reading Festival and the following month see’s Pete Quaife join the band onstage in Toronto for a couple of songs, the first time since he left the fold in ‘69
1982 – Come Dancing is released and brings the band back to the UK charts at 11 and with the help of a great video brings them a top 6 hit in the US
May 1983 - "State of Confusion" album is released landing a number 12 in the US charts
1984 - "Return to Waterloo" is aired on Channel 4, this is Ray’s first directorial outing
July 1st, 1985 - "Return to Waterloo" soundtrack album released in the States while Ray makes a cameo appearance in the Julian Temple directed, "Absolute Beginners". The Kinks are on a world tour throughout most of the year
1990 - Kinks inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the Who and win an Ivor Novello award back home.
1991 - The band signs to Columbia Records and releases the 5 track ep "Did Ya"
1994 - Ray directs and produces "Weird Nightmare", a portrait of Charles Mingus for Channel 4’s jazz series. It features the likes of Elvis Costello, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts. The Kinks assemble in Konk to re-record some old classics which are filmed as well for a BBC documentary. Later the Kinks record "To The Bone" which comes out as a single cd set in the UK and a double in the States a few years later. Davies published his "unauthorized autobiography", X-Ray, to critical acclaim and launches it with some solo shows in the UK .
The Kinks play their last tour of Japan and the States
1996 - Writes and performs "Storyteller, a one man history of the Kinks and Ray Davies" Ray will tour this internationally and records it for VH1 whom build a series around it that continues to this day with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie and Elton John featuring on it. Later in the year The Kinks play their last ever concert in Oslo at the Norwegian Wood Festival
March 1998 - The album of Ray`s one-man show entitled "Storyteller" was released on Columbia
1998 - Ray is commissioned to compose a fifty minute choral piece, Flatlands, for the Norwich and Norfolk Festival featuring the Britten Symphonia. He also co-directed "Vision of England", a program for Anglia Television featuring this music which won a regional television award the following year.
2001– The Kinks BBC sessions 1964-1977 is released
Summer 2003 - saw Ray playing in front of millions worldwide at Buckingham Palace for the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations
March 17th, 2004 Awarded a CBE, by Queen Elizabeth II for "services to music."
2005 – Ray releases first solo studio work with the Ep "The Tourist", it is renamed "Thanksgiving Day EP" in the states with the addition of an extra track
Sept 2005 – Kinks are inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame by Pete Townsend, the first time they are all together since 1984. The Kinks are the only surviving band from the sixties with all members still living. Townsend asks that he would like to see a full reunion. Afterwards Ray takes the band for a curry at an old haunt in Muswell Hill, Dave has a take-away
2006 - The release of Ray’s first studio solo record, "Other Peoples Lives" on V2 Record arrives to great critical acclaim. Ray tours the UK and US in support
2008 – New West release "Working Man’s Café" in the US where Ray follows it with two weeks of dates Ray later performs two shows at the Hampton Court festival with his band plus choir.

-http://www.raydavies.info